Best of Tucson® 2016

I love you. Every year, Tucson Weekly staff and freelancers work like mad chupacabras to put together the annual Best of Tucson®. You may not agree with every reader nomination and vote, but you can’t say they don’t represent Tucson. This year, we decided to focus on locally owned businesses, which to us, only makes this annual love letter stronger.

What you have before you is yes, a love letter, but also a roadmap to keep in your car to help plan a night out or to give to your brother-in-law when he and the family make their annual visit. Thanks for doing that. Thanks for participating.

This year we saw more individual voters participate than any year before. Every year lately breaks voting records. That always makes us happy. You know what else makes us happy? Supporting the businesses outlined in this guide and the places we recommend for hikes and love and more. Get to know your city, each other and support local businesses at the same time.

Big thanks to our graphic designer Oliver Muñoz for putting together our lotería theme for each section, and our web editor Chelo Grubb for coordinating the voting process each year—with love and patience. We love her for that. Big thanks to our production manager Brandon Hays for putting it all together. And of course, none of this happens without the support of our Tucson Local Media staff. We have a great team, and I know they love Tucson, too. I appreciate their dedication.